I love LARP (not lamp, darnit!). Over the years I have been involved in a number of hobbies, from paintball to poetry, and none of them has captured my imagination and brought a healthy balance to my life like LARP. This would generally be the point in the introduction where I say something like “it’s the people, maaaaaaan,”

As mentioned before, we both needed shields. In fact after reviewing numerous sites, I found none that really stood out. Because of the set patterns, you either find a shield that perfectly fits your concept (Elves and Paladins, it seems are well off) or you’re left with a tiny wooden buckler looking thing, as if you’d suddenly been surprised during a dinner and run outside with a wooden trencher to defend your home and honor.

The sword looked cool. It *felt* cool. I looked good holding it, it looked good being pretend-scabbarded at my side. And then Xephyr hit me in the neck/back/shoulder/hip with the giant head of a giant goddamn mace that was, I kid you not, more than a foot in width and covered in spikes because fuck you, NPCs.